Neville Mutsvangwa granted US$1000 bail in case exposing Zanu PF fights

HARARE – After three weeks in remand prison, High Court Judge Justice Rodgers Manyangadze has set bail at US$1,000 each for Neville Mutsvangwa, son of Women’s Affairs Minister Monica Mutsvangwa and Zanu PF spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa, and his co-accused Ellis Majachani and Simbarashe Tichingana.

They were ordered to surrender their passports.

The trio is facing charges of contravening the Exchange Control Regulations.

This development comes after the case was reassigned to Justice Manyangadze following Justice Esther Muremba’s recusal citing “personal reasons. ”

Mutsvangwa is also facing a separate charge for breaching the Telecommunications Act.

In a recent interview with the media, Neville’s father, Chris, accused Vice President Constantino Chiwenga of engineering the arrest of his son. He called it “political victimisation.”

He said Chiwenga was acting unilaterally and trying to drive a wedge between him and Mnangagwa

Mutsvangwa said he had a long-standing relationship with President Emmerson Mnangagwa dating back to 1978.

He said he was loyal to Mnangagwa and doesn’t answer to “ambitious individuals,” implying VP Chiwenga.

“I think that proximity to him, my proximity to the president, they think through their post-independence proximity to the president they can influence him against me, or me against him.

“It’s an impossibly long shot for the power ambitious to ever think they can drive a wedge into such a long, strong and revolutionary acquaintance between me and the president.

“Persecuting my son as a carrot and stick to that nefarious enterprise will never yield the much-craved outcome,” Mutsvangwa said.

Interestingly, Mutsvangwa was recently fired as War Veterans Minister by Mnangagwa due to insubordination.

Mutsvangwa’s statements confirm the existence of factionalism in Zanu-PF. The division is allegedly centred on Mnangagwa’s plan to extend his term of office beyond 2028.

The President allegedly wants to use his two-thirds majority in Parliament to influence his term extension. But he is facing resistance from his deputy, Chiwenga.

The factionalism in Zanu-PF is also highlighted by the recent reshuffle of the Zanu-PF Politburo, which saw party bigwigs like Martin Bimha being fired from the position of Political Commissar.